The New Year is here, but 2020’s elections are not over.
The Independent Media Institute’s Voting Booth project has been looking at the forces behind record turnout in Georgia’s Senate runoffs—whose Election Day is Tuesday. A day later, Congress convenes to ratify 2020’s Electoral College results. Growing numbers of Republicans oppose elevating Joe Biden to the presidency. • January 6 Preview: A Republican Senator Rebuts Trump’s Stolen Election Claims (January 2) The December 30 letter to his Senate colleagues by Nebraska’s Ben Sasse explains why Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and Republican claims that states ran dishonest elections are baseless and harming democracy. • Grassroots Outreach is Frontline in Turning Out Votes for Georgia Runoff (December 31) Democrats and Republicans have blanketed Georgia with get-out-the-vote efforts in races that will decide the U.S. Senate majority. Voters are tired of all of the calls and texts, but record numbers have voted. Neighbors calling upon neighbors may tip the outcome. • Democracy Headache: Trust in the Vote (December 25) Millions of Republicans say they mistrust elections after President Trump lost. That view runs counter to a season where officials and the public overcame a pandemic to vote. Sixty lawsuits have produced no evidence of election fraud that was accepted by a single court, but distrust lingers. • Decades of Inequality Shadow Voter Turnout in Rural Georgia (December 15) Democrats in Georgia say that they must make inroads with rural voters to win the Senate runoffs. A small-town voter drive reveals why only trusted family, friends and local leaders can boost turnout. | 